Funding model

PIRGs on college campuses have historically been funded with a portion of student activity fees in the form of a labor checkoff. Students may elect to have the fees refunded to them, although many students are unaware that this is the case. This system of PIRG funding has been met with controversy and with a number of legal challenges.[5] In 2014, students at Macalester College in Minnesota voted to end their relationship with MPIRG due to the group's revenue structure, which relied on MPIRG automatically receiving a cut of student activity fees.[6]

Transparency rating

Charity Navigator rated the U.S. PIRG one out of four stars for accountability and transparency, and four out of four stars for financials.[9]

Affiliated nonprofits

Some PIRGs are members of a larger network of non-profit organizations called the Public Interest Network.[10] In the past, they have also helped to launch a number of other independent public interest non-profits, including Green Corps, the Toxics Action Center, Environment America, Environmental Action, and the National Environmental Law Center. In 1992, the U.S. PIRG launched Green Corps, an environmental organization that trains recent college graduates in a one-year post-graduate program.[11] On November 5, 2007, Environment America separated from the state PIRGs and announced its intention to take control of the organization's national environmental advocacy program.